Project Ninja
Rob’s ZX-8 build is on the home stretch.
You may have noticed in the last couple of issues that there has been a distinct lack of articles about my ZXR project, the reason being that I’ve had a bit of time off with the missus to enjoy Christmas and adjust to being a parent after the arrival of a little Baby Bean. Now things have settled down a bit, I’ve had time to get back in the garage and reacquainted with my neglected angle grinder and bike.
We left off last time with some sneak peeks of the almost finished bodywork. Whilst it’s not completely done (I’m going to wait for the weather to warm up to give it all a final lacquer), I couldn’t resist loosely fitting it all on and getting the bike outside for a proper look at it. To say I’m happy with how it looks is an understatement. Once I had calmed down enough to remove the bodywork, I did just that… I removed all the bodywork, wrapped it up and it is now safely stored in the spare room to prevent any damage or distracting me from doing anything other than stare at it.
Cables
So, on with the remaining jobs. It’s been a bit too cold to spend long periods in the garage so I’ve been sticking to smaller, less time-consuming tasks. The first thing I tackled, having not being able to source a new set, was finding a way to sort out the broken cable mount on the carbs I had previously discovered. I ended up having to make an aluminium plate that fastens on using the carb top mounts. I started by making a simple cardboard template, which I transferred to the aluminium plate, which I then cut out with my trusty angle grinder. A hacksaw would have been adequate, but not as much fun. It was then just a case of filing smooth and drilling the holes. I cut up an old throttle cable to liberate the adjuster screw and for the cable I used a mountain bike brake cable, which is something that I have always done. (Well, you never hear of mountain-bikers riding off cliffs because their brake cables have snapped, do you!) You can buy in whatever length you need for a few quid, along with the end ferrules and solderless nipples. I fitted the carbs to the bike, threaded the cable through the frame and marked it at the correct length with a bit of tape. I then took the outer cable off and cut it to the required size, crimped the ferrules on each end and added the adjuster screw. I set the top and bottom adjusters into the middle of their travel – this is where the solderless nipples are really good – and I put the nipple on the inner cable and did it up finger tight, so I could get the length of the inner in the right place before committing to cutting the cable.
Once happy, I removed the whole cable and my funky bracket so I could hold the nipple in the vice and tighten it up properly before cutting the cable off flush. My bracket makes it a bit fiddly to get the cable into the carbs, but it works bob on once everything is in place, so will do for now.
I’ll probably end up swapping the carbs for a better set when some turn up, mind. I fitted the carbs with some new tygon fuel hose and fitted them and the filters back to the bike.
Stoppers
My next taskette was to sort the back brake out. The original H1 calliper hangar has a bearing that allows it to pivot as the swingarm moves, and a torque arm that bolts to the frame. I have opted for a lighter hangar that doesn’t move, but because of the wheel spacing I can’t use the sliding mount on the swingarm, so to sort this out I made a block that bolts on to the calliper hangar, which allows movement for chain adjustment and holds it still using the underside of the swingarm as a brace. I fitted a master cylinder reservoir pot and the rear brake hose. You will notice it is now magically green instead of pink. (I managed to hide the pink one from myself somehow. but found a green one that is a perfect fit.)
Next up, I fitted some new Fast Road/Race compound pads in the front callipers, making sure to clean and grease the retaining pins as I went. With that done, I thought it was as good a time as any to crack on with bleeding the brakes and clutch up. I have my own technique for doing this, which I find particularly good when starting with a system that is completely empty of fluid. I have big syringe with a bit of silicon hose on the end that fits perfectly over the bleed nipple. I take out the plunger and half
IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG TO GET EVERYTHING BLED UP NICELY
fill the syringe with fluid and also fill the res pot, then loosen the bleed nipple. This allows the brake lever to be operated up and down without the constant opening and closing of the nipple. I just keep going until the syringe starts to fill. I then lock it all off and revert to bleeding conventionally to finish. It didn’t take long to get everything bled up nicely.
Shift it
My final job this month was making a gear shift linkage long enough to work with the rearsets. This was another job that was pretty simple and cheap to do, costing about £10. I ordered some M6 stainless threaded bar, some M6 ball and socket linkages and some aluminium tube (6mm ID).
I cut the old joint off the gearbox end of the original linkage and tapped the remaining part of the pin out of it, which allowed me to bolt one of the socket linkages on to it and fit it back to the bike. I threaded the bar halfway into the linkage and locked it down with a nut, and then it was just a case of getting the length right and cutting it down. Once the lever position looked about right, I cut a length of aluminium tube about 30mm shorter than the shift rod, put it over the bar and tightened it down with a nut against the gearbox end. This meant the socket was finally fastened at the other end and able to be locked off with its own nut. The aluminium bar stops bending and the protruding portion at the lever end leaves me scope for adjustment if I change the rearset position. I have just got some lockstops, to sort a coolant overflow, fit a chain when it arrives and then the last big job, which is making the wiring loom. Hopefully I should have it all virtually done next month, just in time for the spring. Ace.